Washing machine



June 7, 1938.

L.. A. JAMES WASHING MACHINE Filed June 8, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet l June 7, 1938. A. JAMES Y 2,119,636

WASHING MACHINE .INVENTOR I ew/.f James.

I BY

Patented June 7, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFlcE Claims.

This invention relates to washing machines particularly those of the power driven type and has for its principal object to provide a simple and relatively inexpensive driving connection of 5 the prime mover with the agitating mechanism of the machine.

Other important objects of the invention are to provide a clutch mechanism that may be readily operated to connect and disconnect the power from the agitator; to provide for adequate lubrication of the working parts by means of a common oil bath in which the parts operate; andA to provide manual means for selectively operating the washer in case of failure of the power supply or the prime mover. t

In accomplishing these and other objects of the invention, I have provided improved details of structure, the preferred form of which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings. wherein:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a washing machine embodying the features of the present invention, a portion of the tub beingbroken away to illustrate the agitator mechanism.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail vertical `section 25 through the transmission mechanism.

Fig. 3 is a cross-section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 4 is a similar cross-section on vthe line l-l .of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section through a side wall of the washing machine showing the transmission housing in plan with a; portionA of the cover broken away to better illustrate the operating mechanism and showing the clutch con- 3 nection in engaged position.

Fig. 6 is a similar view showing the'clutch connection in disengaged position.

Fig. 'I is a detail perspective view of the pitman.

Fig. 8 is a detail perspective view of the rack and its pin which is engageable by the pitman.

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the pitman control parts. Fig. 10 is a perspective view o! the crank for manually operating the washing machine. if Referring more in detail to the drawings:

I designates a washing machine embodying the features o! the present invention and which in- .cludes a tub 2, an agitator 3 that is oscillatably mounted in the tub, a prime mover l, a wringer 5, and a transmission 6 selectively connecting -the prime mover with the agitator 3 and a wring er B. The tub 2 has a. substantially semi-cylindrical bottom 1 connected by end walls 8-9 and side walls ll-Il to form an agitating chamber l2 55 having an open top I3 through which clothes are* (Ci. 'J4-11s) inserted into the washer, the open top being covered by a suitable lid H. y The upper edge of the tub is reinforced by a framework i5 that is supported at its corners on legs i6 to space the tub fromthe floor and provide a compart- 6- ment i1 thereunder for housing l the prime mover Il;

In the illustrated instance the prime mover is shown as an electric motor having its oaseA i8 fixed to a cross bar I9 extending between a pair of 10 adjacent legs I. In order to enhance the appearance of the tub the' spaces between the respective legsare closed by suitable panels 20.

The agitator 3 includes spaced arms 2l and 22 operable in close proximity to the inner sides of 15V the end walls and winch have their upper ends oscillatably mounted in the axis of the semi- .cylindrical bottom 1 so that an agitating blade 23 carried at the outer ends of' the arms, moves in an arc across the bottom of the tub. member for the arm 22 may constitute a suitable trunnion (not shown), but the pivot member for the arm 2icomprises a shaft 24 that forms a part of the transmission 6, now to be described.

The transmission 6 includes a housing 25 hav- 25 ing spaced side walls 26 and 21 preferably connected by end walls 28 and 29 and a bottom 30 to provide a. compartment 3i for containing the operating mechanism, the top of the compartment being closed by a removable cover plate 32 hav- 30 'ing its side edges overlapping the side and end walls and secured thereto by suitable fastening devices, such as screws 33, extending through suitable openings in the cover and into threaded sockets 3l formed in the side walls.

Carried by the side walls 26 and 21.and bottom are spaced bearing bosses 25 and 36 having bushed openings 31 and 3l to rotatably mount the shaft 24. The outer ends of the bushed openings are counterbored, as at I! and lil, to lac- 40 commodate packing elements 4I and l2 to form a. seal about the shaft and prevent escape of lubricant from the transmission housing. The packing elements are retained in the counterbores 39 and 40 Vby plugs I5 and 4'6 that are 45 threadedly mounted therein and which have. openings 41 and I8 "to accommodate the` shaft. The plug 46 has an annular ilange 49 to cooperate with the side wall 21 for clampinglyengaging the end wall of the tub to seal the opening 50 50 therein through which the shaft 24 is extended. The inner end 5i of the shaft projects within the agitating chamber a sumcient distance to mount the agitator arm 2| which is keyed thereto by a pin or. the like I2.. The opposite end of 55 The pivot 20' the shaft projects through the plug 45 and into a tubular boss 53 projecting from the side 26 of the transmission housing to form a bearing for thesocket 54 of a hand crank 55 that is con- A. nectable with the shaft in case of failure of the prime mover, or its power supply, as later described. The socket 54 is provided with notches 51 and 58 to engage the ends of Aa pin 59 extended through the shaft. When the hand crank 1s not in usev the open end of the tubular boss may be closed by a suitable cap (not shown).

Fixed on the shaft between the bearing bosses by a spline 60 is a pinion gear 6| having its teeth 62 meshing with the teeth 68 of a rack bar 64 provided with grooved ways 65 and 66 slidably engaging guide ribs 61 and 68 of a guide block 69. The guide block 69 is bolted in position in the transmission housing by' suitable fastening devices, such as cap screws 10, extending through openings 1| in the rbottom of the case and having threaded sh'anks 12vengaging in threaded bores 13 of the block as best shown in Fig. 2. The under side of the block is recessed, as at 14, to cooperate with an arcuate depression 15 in the housing to accommodate the pinion gear. The guide ribs extend inwardly from the side walls 16 and 11 of a groove 18 extending longitudinally of the block. The block is of suicient width to provide sliding support for a pitman 19, later described. v

Located in the opposite end of the transmission housing and formed on the cover plate 32 and bottom 30 respectively are Avertically arranged bearing bosses 80 and 8| having bushed openings 82V and 83 for rotatably mounting the shaft sectio'ns 84 and 85 of a'crank-shaft 86, the shaft sections having crank arms 81 rotatable in the upper portion lof the transmission housing and connected bya crank-pin on which the pit# man 'is pivotally mounted.

The shaft section 85 of the crank-shaft carries a worm gear 89 that meshes with a worm 90 t fixed to a power shaft 9| extending transversely of the housing in parallel relation with the agitator shaft 24. The shaft 9| has its ends mounted in hushed bearings 92 and 93. formed in the side walls of the housing as best shown in Fig. 3. The bearing opening in the outer s ide wall 26 is closed by a threadedv plug 94 but the bearing opening in the opposite side wall is counter-bored to con' tain 'a sealing element 95 to prevent escape of -lubricant about the projecting end of the worm shaft 9|., The packing element is 'retained in position by a threaded plug 96 similar to the threaded plugs on the agitator shaft, previously described.

Fixed to the projecting end of the worm shaft is a grooved pulley 91 that is aligned with a sim- 'ilar pulley 98 on the power shaft of the prime mover '4, the pulleys being operably connected -by abelt 99 running in the grooves of the respective pulleys. In order to accommodate the pulley 19vv the sidewall 26 of the transmission housing is inset as at |00.

. The bearing boss 8| of the cover plate projects f above the' top of the tub and 4rotatably mounts l the wringer" 5 as in conventional practice. The lshaft section 84 of the crank-shaft forms an actuating shaft for operating the rolls ofthe wringer, #the specific form of connection between the shaft and the wrlnger 5 forming'no part of the present invention.

The clutch pitman 19 constitutes an important part `of vthe present inventionl and includes a bar having an opening |02 in one end thereof to anchor for the spring being located form a bearing through which the crank-pin oi.' the crank-shaft is extended. The opposite end of the pitman extends over the upper surface of the guide block and is provided with a hook-shaped head |03 having'a notch |04 opening from a side thereof to engage a pin projecting upwardly vfrom the rack bar 64. The forward end of th'e the longitudinal groove to lubricate a guide pin '|09' that retains the pitman in or out of engagement with the pin |05 of the rack. In order to manually move the pitman into engagement or disengagement with the pin |05, the guide pin 09 is carried on a lever ||0 fixed to a shaft that is rotatably mounted in a bearing ||2 ofthe cover plate and which' has an operating knob ||3.

Loosely mounted on the guide pin between the lever |0 and the pitman is a plate ||4 having its free end H5 connected by a coil spring ||6 with an anchor ||1 to retain the guide pin supporting leverv in one or the other of its two positions, the l substantially midway of the two positions so that when the guide pin is moved across dead center relatively thereto the spring will continue movement of the lever until it has engaged a-stop pin |8'or H9 on the cover.

The transmission housing thus described is supported on the end ofl the tub by vfastening devices such as cap screws |23, shown in Figs. 2-

tion of the crank-shaft causes the pitman 19 to reciprocate over the upper face of the guide block in guided relation with the guide-pin |09 which operates in thegroove |01 and normally retains the clutch pawl from engagement with the pin` |05. AWhen in this position, the arm carrying the.

guide pin engages the stop pin ||9 andis held thereagainst by action-of the spring ||6. The agitator is now set in Aoperation by rotating the knob |3 in' a eounterclockwise direction toward the other stop ||6. When in this position the cam face |06 onthe pitman head engages the pin |05 so that the lpitman reciprocates thereagainst until the notch |04 registers with the pin ment of the lever ||0 carrying the guide pin |09 into engagementwith the other stop 8, causing the notch |04 to-engage over the pin |05. thereby 05 whereupon the spring i6 will continue mo've-A l connecting the rack bar in vdriving relation with A the pitman.

Reciprocation of the pitman now produces rej ciprocation of the rack bar 64 to effect oscillation of the pinion gear 6| which in turn oscillates the agitator mechanism back and forth over the bottom of the tub to wash the clothes. When the pitman is to be disengaged from the rack 64, the

knob I3 is rotated in the opposite direction, past dead center position, whereupon the spring is again effective to draw the lever arm H against the stop pin H9, and since the guide pin |09 is still engaged in the guide groove |01 of the pitman, the pitman will reciprocate on the upper face of the guide block 69 during continued rotation of the crank-shaft. As soon as the notch I 04 is disengaged from the pin |05 the rack bar will have stopped its reciprocation to suspend operation of the agitator mechanism.

In case of failure of the power, the cap closing the tubular boss may be removed and the hand crank 55 applied to the projecting end of the agitator shaft '.4 whereupon the agitator shaft may be oscill ated back and forth independently of the power mechanism.

From the foregoing, it is obvious that I have ing having connection with the agitator, a reciprocating member meshing with the pinion, means for slidably retaining the reciprocating member in constant meshing relation .with the pinion, a crank shaft rotatabhr mounted in the housing, means for connecting a prime mover with the crank shaft, a pitman on the crank shaft havingl a latch shaped head for latchingly engaging the reciprocating member, and means for guidingly retaining the latch shaped head of the pitman in engagementwith the reciprocating member including means for moving the pitman to and from latched engagement with said reciprocating member.

2. An apparatus for operably connecting the agitator of a washer with a prime mover including a transmission housing, a pinion in the housing having connection with the agitator, a reciprocating member meshing with the pinion, means for slidably retaining the reciprocating member in constant meshing relation with the pinion, a crank shaft rotatably mounted in the housing, means for connecting the prime mover with the crank shaft, a pitman on the crank shaft having a latch shaped head for latchingly engaging the reciprocating member and a guide groove extendlng longitudinally of the pitman, a lever arm pivotally mounted in the housing, a guide pin on the'arm engaging in said groove of the pitman, a `pin on the reciprocating member, and means for actuating the lever arm to cause the guide pin to move the latch shaped head of the pitman in to and out of engagement with said pin on the reciprocating member.

3. An apparatus for operably connecting the agitator of a washer with a prime mover including a transmission housing, a pinion in the housing having connection with the agitator, a reciprocating member meshing with the pinion, means for slidably retaining the reciprocating member in constant meshing relation with the pinion, a crank shaft rotatably mountedl in the housing,

means for connecting the prime mover with the crank shaft, a pitman on the crank shaft having a latch shaped headfor latchingly engaging the reciprocating member and a guide-groove extending longitudinally of the pitman, a lever arm plvv otally mounted in the housing, a guide pin on the arm engaging'in said groove of the pitman, a piny on the'reciprocating member,` means for actuating the lever arm to cause the guide pin to move the latch shaped head of the pitman into and out of' engagement with said pin on the reciprocating member, and means yieldingly retaining said lever arm in said selected position.

4. In an apparatus of the character decribed, a housing, a pinion rotatably mounted in the housing, a rack meshing with the pinion, means' slidably retaining the rack in constant meshing relation with the pinion, a driving member in the housing, a pitman on the driving member having a latch shaped head for latchingly engaging the-rack, and means for guidingly retaining the pitman in latched engagement with the rack including means for moving the pitman from latched engagement with the rack.

5. In an apparatus of the character described, a housing, a pinion rotatably mounted in the slidably retaining the rack in constant meshing relation with the pinion, a driving member in thehousing, a rack meshing with the pinion, means 

